In April, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) proposed a range of new rules intended to help...

1 in 4 lone parents out of work

Almost 1 in 4 of the UK's 1.8 million lone-parent households – 650,000 in total – are not in any sort of paid employment, according to a new report from the Policy Exchange think tank. The report also says the proportion of lone-parent households in the UK is the fourth highest in the EU – behind only Estonia, Latvia and Ireland.

Key points

The level of unemployment among lone parents can partly be attributed to when they have children. Over half (52 per cent) of lone mothers who had their first child as a teenager (16-19) are not in work or looking for work – compared with 40 per cent who had their first child aged 20-23, 29 per cent at ages 24-29, and 19 per cent in their early thirties.

Skills levels also matter: 84 per cent of lone parents who have left education and have degrees are in work – compared with only 54 per cent of those who left education without any qualifications above GCSE level, and 26 per cent who left with no qualifications.

Despite the continued problems faced by lone parents, the proportion in work has increased since the 1990s – partly due to employment support and stronger job search requirements introduced by the previous Labour government, and partly due to the increase in part-time work.

Lone parents also tend to have fewer children than married couples: in 2012, 57 per cent of lone parents only had one child, compared with 41 per cent of couples.

Nonetheless the average lone-parent household claims twice as much in benefit support as the average two-parent household.

The report recommends more intensive training support for lone parents when their youngest child is aged 3-4. It says there should also be better incentives within the benefits system for lone parents who find work.

Subjects:

Category:

PSE:UK is a major collaboration between the University of Bristol, Heriot-Watt University, The Open University, Queen's University Belfast, University of Glasgow and the University of York working with the National Centre for Social Research and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. ESRC Grant RES-060-25-0052.